Ancient Indians were the earliest issuers of coins in the world, along with the Chinese and Lydians (from the Middle East). The first Indian coins – punch marked coins called Puranas, Karshapanasor Pana – were minted in the 6th century BC by the Mahajanapadas (republic kingdoms) of ancient India. These included Gandhara, Kuntala, Kuru, Panchala, Shakya, Surasena, and Saurashtra.
The Maurya Empire issued one of the earliest coins in the world in 6th century BC. These Mauryan coins were not exactly the rupee, yet the foundations of the currency.
Made of silver of a standard weight but with irregular shapes, these coins had different markings – for example, Saurashtra had a humped bull, Dakshin Panchala had a Swastika, and Magadha had several symbols.
Then came the Mauryas who punch marked their coins with a royal standard. Chanakya, prime minister to the first Mauryan emperor Chandragupta Maurya, mentions the minting of coins such as rupyarupa (silver), suvarnarupa (gold), tamararupa (copper) and sisarupa (lead) in his Arthashastra treatise.
The word “rūpiye” (Hindi for rupees) is derived from a Sanskrit word “rūpaa”, which means “wrought silver or a coin of silver”. The word is derived from the noun rūpa or “shape, likeness, image”. Arthashastra by Chanakya, who was the prime of the first Maurya emperor Chandragupta Maurya (340–290 BCE), has mentions of silver coins as rupyarupa. Arthashastra also mentions gold coins (Suvarnarupa), copper coins (Tamararupa) and lead coins (Sisarupa).
The origin of the word “rupee” is found in the Sanskrit rūpya “shaped; stamped, impressed; coin” and also from the Sanskrit word “raupya” meaning silver.
The word rūpa is further identified as having sprung from the Dravidian root uruppu, which means "a member of the body.
The word "sura'je" is derived from a Sanskrit word "rūpaalu", which means "wrought silver, a coin of silver", in origin an adjective meaning "shapely", with a more specific meaning of "stamped, impressed", whence "coin". It is derived from the noun rūpa "shape, likeness, image". The word rūpa itself could have Vedic or Dravidian roots.
Vedic origin is more likely, as Sanskrit rūpá, n.,m. a form, beauty (Rigveda), rūpaka adjective and n.,m. a particular coin Pañcatantra, rūpya,*rūpiya-, adj. beautiful, bearing a stamp Pāṇini., n. silver Mahabharata. There is no evidence of transmission to Indo-Aryan from Dravidian and textual evidence dates to well before any references in the later Dravidian.
A 3rd century BC silver coin of the Maurya Empire. The coin called Rupyarupa had symbols of wheel and elephant.
The Indo-Greek Kushan kings who came next introduced the Greek custom of engraving portrait heads on coins. Their example was followed for eight centuries. The extensive coinage of the Kushan empire also influenced a large number of tribes, dynasties, and kingdoms, which began issuing their own coins.
Kushan coins had the diademed, helmeted bust of the king on one side, and the king’s favourite deity on the reverse.
The Gupta coins, with their many varieties and inscriptions in Sanskrit, are among the finest India has produced.
The Gupta Empire produced large numbers of gold coins depicting the Gupta kings performing various rituals. This tradition of intricately engraved coins continued till the arrival of the Turkish Sultanate in North India.In 1866, when the financial establishments collapsed, the control of paper money also shifted to the British Government. This was subsequently passed to the Mint Masters, the Accountant Generals and the Controller of Currency. In 1867, the Victoria Portrait series of bank notes was issued in honour of Queen Victoria and later many emperors followed suit.
In 1959, a special issue of Rupees 10 and Rupees 100 notes took place for Indian Haj pilgrims so as to ease money exchange with the local currency in Saudi Arabia.
In 712 AD, the Arabs conquered the Indian province of Sindh and brought their influence and coverage with them. The Delhi Sultanate attempted to standardise this monetary system and coins were subsequently made in gold, silver and copper.
By the 12th century AD, the Turkish Sultans of Delhi had replaced the royal designs of Indian kings with Islamic calligraphy. The currency – made in gold, silver and copper – was now referred to as tanka, with the lower valued coins being called jittals. The Delhi Sultanate also attempted to standardise the monetary system by issuing coins of different values.
The commencement of the Mughal Empire from 1526 AD brought forth a unified and consolidated monetary system for the entire empire.
The rupee was first minted by Emperor Sher Shah who reigned from 1540 to 1545. This silver coin weighted 175 troy grains or 11.3 grams. The sub-unit was the paisa copper coin, from 45 to 65 paise to a rupee.
In 1526, the Mughal period commenced, bringing forth a unified and consolidated monetary system for the entire Empire. This was heavily influenced by the Afghan Sher Shah Suri (1540 to 1545) who introduced the silver Rupayya or Rupee coin.
The original rūpaya was a silver coin weighing 175 grains troy (about 11.34 grams). The silver coin remained in use during the Mughal period, and later during the British rule.
By the time the British East India Company set itself up in India in the 1600s, Sher Shah’s silver rupiya had already become the popular standard currency in the country. Despite many attempts to introduce the sterling pound in India, the rupaiya grew in popularity and was even exported as a currency to other British colonies.
In 1717 AD, the English obtained permission from Mughal emperor Farrukh Siyar to coin Mughal money at the Bombay Mint. The British gold coins were termed carolina, the silver coins angelina, the copper coins cupperoon, and the tin coins tinny.
French East India Company–issued rupee in the name of Mohammed Shah(1719–1748) for Northern India trade, cast in Pondicherry
Paper money was first issued in British India in the 18th century, with the Bank of Hindostan, General Bank in Bengal and the Bengal Bank becoming the first banks in India to issue paper currency.
The Coinage Act of 1835 provided for uniform coinage throughout the country. It was only in 1858 when the British Crown gained control of the one hundred Princely states, and subsequently ended the Mughal Empire, that the coin’s native images were replaced by portraits of the Monarch of Great Britain to indicate British Supremacy.
In 1862, the Victoria portrait series of bank notes and coins were issued in honour of Queen Victoria and later, many emperors followed suit. For security reasons, the notes of this series were cut in half; one half was sent by post and upon confirmation of receipt, the other half was sent.
During the British occupation, the rupee still is 11.3 grams of silver. however, new sub-units are used: 1 rupee= 16 annas = 64 paise ou pices = 192 pies.
On August 15, 1950, the new ‘anna system’ was introduced – the first coinage of the Republic of India. The British King’s portrait was replaced with the engraving of Ashoka’s Lion Capital of Sarnath, and the tiger on the 1 rupee coin was replaced with a corn sheaf. One rupee now consisted of 16 annas.
The 1955 Indian Coinage (Amendment) Act, which came into force on April 1, 1957, introduced a ‘decimal series’. The rupee was now divided into 100 paisainstead of 16 annas or 64 pice.The coins were initially called naye paise, meaning new paise, to distinguish them from the previous coins.
India moves to the decimal system in 1957. One rupees is then divided in 100 naya paise (new paise), later called only paise from 1964 on.
In order to aid the blind in the country, each coin had distinctly different shapes – the round 1 naya paisa, scalloped edge 2 naya paisa, the square 5 naya paisa, and the scalloped edge 10 naya paisa.
Also, prior to Independence, the Indian currency was pegged against silver. The silver-based rupee fluctuated according to the value of silver and had a distinct disadvantage when trading against currencies that were based on the gold standard. This was rectified post-Independence.
In 1969, the Mahatma Gandhi Birth Centenary Commemorative Issue was released. It was the only commemorative note issue ever by the Reserve Bank of India.
Later, in 1996, the ‘Mahatma Gandhi Series’ was introduced with prominent new features such as changed watermarks, windowed security threads, latent images, and intaglio features for the visually handicapped. This was replaced in 2005 by the ‘MG series’ notes that had some additional security features.
In 2010, India celebrated its hosting of the Commonwealth Games with commemorative 2 and 5 Rupee coins. One side of these coins features the logo of the Games while the other features the three lions from the pillar of Ashoka. In the same year, India also adopted the new symbol for the rupee ₹, with new coins bearing this symbol being launched in 2011.
Since 2010, other commemorative coins have also been issued – 60th anniversary of the Indian Parliament, 150th anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, and more recently, International Day of Yoga.
